UAB stroke study receives $20 million grant

The University of Alabama at Birmingham's stroke study received a $20 million grant to help look into strokes in the South and among African-Americans.

Posted: Mar. 5, 2018 12:11 AM

Updated: Mar. 5, 2018 12:11 AM

Posted By: Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The University of Alabama at Birmingham's stroke study received a $20 million grant to help look into strokes in the South and among African-Americans.

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UAB's Regions for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke will receive funds through 2023, Al.com reported . The study has gotten almost $100 million in grant funding in the past 15 years.

More than 30,000 people have participated in the REGARDS study. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is funding the grant.

University officials say study participants have taken part in the program for 14 years.

The study is based in UAB's School of Public Health. It includes collaborators from the University of Vermont, University of Cincinnati, Indiana University, Drexel University and Columbia University.

UAB professor of biostatistics George Howard said the stroke mortality rate between the ages of 45 and 65 is 200 to 300 percent higher for African-Americans. He also said 11 percent of deaths from strokes in white people happen before age 65, but the number rises to 28 percent for African-Americans.

Experts found that living in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee early in life increases the risk of stroke, the newspaper reported.